Report on the 243rd Meeting of the Council
of Ontario Universities

At the meetings of the Academic Colleagues and the Council of Ontario Universities in Toronto
on December 10 and 11, 1998, several matters of interest and importance were discussed and
decided:

The Report of a Task Force on "Access to Degrees for Ontario's College Students" was
discussed at length and approved in principle. The position of the Report is that, with
seventeen, geographically dispersed universities already in existence, the Province does "not
require additional degree-granting institutions" and that "access to degrees for Ontario's
college students should be improved by accelerated articulation and collaboration" between
and among the universities and the colleges.

During the discussion of the Report, it became apparent that
pressure from colleges for
degree-granting status is likely to continue and that, among other things, the COU must arrive
at a convincing definition of a university and a degree in the Ontario
context.

Approval was given to the Report of a Task Force on "Recruitment and Application
Guidelines" that endorses the principle of uniformity regarding admission requirements and
procedures (six OACs, common dates for offers, responses, etc.) and reminds admissions
officers of the inappropriateness of using scholarships, residence accommodation and the like in
a coercive manner. (A summary of the Report's recommendations has been sent to the
Registrar's Office.)

The impending release of a government-sponsored survey of the employment rates of
university graduates may be a cause of concern to the universities on two counts: (i) the
methodology of the survey, and (ii) the misrepresentation of its results in the media and
elsewhere. Universities should be prepared to look closely and
critically at the survey.

At present, athletic scholarships are not permitted at Ontario universities, but there is pressure
from at least two institutions (Lakehead and Laurentian) to have this prohibition lifted, and a
debate of the issues and principles involved appears
to be in the offing.

The public opinion research plan associated with the "Meeting Ontarians' Expectations"
initiative is moving ahead apace under the guidance of Michael Gourley (who, of course, needs
no introduction to The University of Western Ontario) focus-group sessions have been held
between January 11 and 15, survey fieldwork completed between January 18 and 25, and
interviews with business leaders conducted between January 11 and 25. The final report will
be submitted to COU on February 25. Thanks, in part, to pressure from the Academic
Colleagues, the contents of the questionnaires, the nature of the focus groups, and the types of
business leaders to be consulted have been expanded so as better to reflect the activities and
concerns of the universities.

The likelihood that, in addition to the bulge created by the
"double-cohort" in 2003, there will be an increase of some 50,000 students who are eligible for
university from 2005 to 2010, gives some ground for hope that the government will provide
funds for faculty renewal and university expansion in the coming decade. Since the projected
increase in students and the preceding and accompanying "retirement bulge" will be North
America wide phenomena, the question arises of whether and how Ontario universities will be
able to educate, recruit, and retain the number and quality of faculty
that will be needed.

The process of naming the Board for the Millennium Foundation Scholarships is nearly
complete and the Board is expected to meet in early February. The COU has urged that
"wherever possible, the elements of the program [be] harmonized with existing student
assistance programs, both federal and provincial" and the Association of Universities and
Colleges of Canada takes the view that students enrolled at all its member universities should
be eligible for the scholarships (95% of which is slated to be needs-based and 5% on
exceptional merit).

The COU is sponsoring a colloquium on "Technology-Based Teaching/Learning" that will take
place between 2:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on February 11 and be broadcast by satellite to Royal
Roads University, the University of Calgary, and a university in the Maritimes. Some forty
people will be able to attend the colloquium in Toronto, and "[r]emote sites" will be able to
"participate" in discussion via "two-way telephone lines." Details have been forwarded to the
Educational Development Office.